What is a virtual grid in WinForms GridControl?

1 min read

Virtual grid

A Virtual Grid does not hold any data. All data is supplied to the Grid, from an external data source, on demand. When the Grid needs a particular cell, say to draw it, it asks the external data source for that value. Since no data is actually loaded into the Grid, there is virtually no limit imposed by Essential Grid on the number of rows and columns you can have.

//Hook the below events in Form_Load to have a virtual grid
gridControl1.QueryCellInfo += gridControl1_QueryCellInfo;
gridControl1.QueryRowCount += gridControl1_QueryRowCount;
gridControl1.QueryColCount += gridControl1_QueryColCount;    
private void gridControl1_QueryCellInfo(object sender, GridQueryCellInfoEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.ColIndex > 0 && e.RowIndex > 0)
    {
        e.Style.Text = string.Format("R{0}:C{1}", e.RowIndex, e.ColIndex);
        e.Handled = true;
    }
}        
private void gridControl1_QueryRowCount(object sender, GridRowColCountEventArgs e)
{
    //Set RowCount
    e.Count = 1000;
    e.Handled = true;
}
private void gridControl1_QueryColCount(object sender, GridRowColCountEventArgs e)
{
    //Set ColCount 
    e.Count = 100;
    e.Handled = true;
}

'Hook the below events in Form_Load to have a virtual grid
gridControl1.QueryCellInfo += gridControl1_QueryCellInfo
gridControl1.QueryRowCount += gridControl1_QueryRowCount
gridControl1.QueryColCount += gridControl1_QueryColCount
Private Sub gridControl1_QueryCellInfo(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As GridQueryCellInfoEventArgs)
    If e.ColIndex > 0 AndAlso e.RowIndex > 0 Then
           e.Style.Text = String.Format("R{0}:C{1}", e.RowIndex, e.ColIndex)
           e.Handled = True
    End If
End Sub
Private Sub gridControl1_QueryRowCount(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As GridRowColCountEventArgs)
    'Set RowCount
    e.Count = 1000
    e.Handled = True
End Sub
Private Sub gridControl1_QueryColCount(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As GridRowColCountEventArgs)
    'Set ColCount 
    e.Count = 100
    e.Handled = True
End Sub

The following screenshot displays the Virtual Grid.

Virtual grid in GridControl